Biz Break: iPad launch events just ain't what they used to be

A relatively small crowd lines up to buy the new iPad Air at Apple's retail store in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Among the products introduced earlier by Apple are a new iPad Air, which went on sale to the public at 8 a.m. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group) (Patrick Tehan)

In Palo Alto, a confused passer-by asked employees, "Hey, where are all the people?" In Los Angeles, a customer who arrived just 30 minutes before the Beverly Center store opened was the only person in line despite workers' warning of a big turnout.

"It was surprising to me," Ivan Stanchev told the L.A. Times. "Yesterday, I was here to buy the iPhone 5S, and they told me to expect a huge line."

Brad Peterson of Los Altos arrived for last year's launch at 2 a.m. and found nobody waiting. "I go to these things all the time, and (2 a.m.) usually gets me somewhere in the middle of the line," he said then.

Low turnout at U.S. debut events may not be a huge factor in first-weekend sales of the iPad Air, however: The device had the biggest launch yet internationally, as Apple sold the tablets in 42 countries, including China, and events overseas seemed to have much more fanfare and greater turnouts.

HP gained 6.4 percent Friday to $25.92, after the Palo Alto tech giant's $3.5 billion contract with the Navy survived a challenge from a competitor who was beat out for the task of running the armed service's communications network. HP had the fifth largest percentage gain in the SV150 Friday, a group led by Trimble Navigation, a Sunnyvale GPS company that gained 17.1 percent to $33.41 after its earnings report showed mobile gains. SunPower (SPWRA) (up 2.2 percent to $30.87) and SolarCity (up 2.4 percent to $54.64) also had earnings-related boosts Friday, though it wasn't those companies' reports: Manufacturing leader First Solar shared its shine with the entire solar sector after a strong quarter.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Up 5.1, or 0.29 percent, to 1,761.64

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/jowens510.